Non-destructive method for testing the seal of an electrolyte of an electrochemical cell

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9413015-B2
Application number	US-201113641998-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 28, 2011
Priority date	Apr 28, 2010
Publication date	Aug 9, 2016
Grant date	Aug 9, 2016

Abstract

A method for testing a seal of a part that includes an electrolyte of an electrochemical cell, the method including: forming a closed cavity delimited by a first outer surface of the part including the electrolyte to be tested; contacting a second outer surface of the part, opposite the first surface, with a first fluid; circulating a second fluid, separate from the first fluid, through the closed cavity between an inlet and an outlet of this cavity; and analyzing the fluid extracted via the outlet of the cavity, to detect possible presence of the first fluid.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for testing a seal of a part including an electrolyte of an electrochemical cell, the method comprising:
forming a closed cavity delimited by a first outer surface of the part including the electrolyte to be tested;
contacting a second outer surface of the part, opposite the first surface, with a first fluid;
circulating a second fluid, separate from the first fluid, through the closed cavity between an inlet and an outlet of the cavity; and
analyzing a fluid extracted via the outlet of the cavity, to detect a possible presence of the first fluid,
wherein the first fluid contacts the second outer surface of the part and the first fluid passes through the seal of the part into the part when the seal is faulty and then the first fluid passes into the closed cavity.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the detection of the possible presence of the first fluid is conducted using a trace analyzer of the first fluid.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein a leak rate of the tested part is determined based on analysis of the fluid extracted from the closed cavity.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the second fluid enters the closed cavity at a pressure of an order of 10 to 50 mbars.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the part is the electrolyte alone, or the electrochemical cell containing this electrolyte.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the closed cavity is delimited by a bottom provided with a recess separated from a remainder of the cavity by a grid, and wherein the inlet opens into the recess and the outlet leads to the grid.

7. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising flushing the closed cavity with the second fluid to purge the closed cavity of residual first fluid before analyzing the fluid extracted via the outlet of the cavity, to detect a possible presence of the first fluid.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the volume of the closed cavity is between 100 and 600 cm 3 .

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the first and second fluids are gases.

10. The method according to claim 9 , wherein the second fluid is nitrogen gas.

11. The method according to claim 9 , wherein the first fluid is oxygen gas contained in ambient air in contact with the second outer surface of the part.

12. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the ambient air is under atmospheric pressure.

Assignees

• Morel Bertrand
• Pocachard Jacques
• Commissariat Energie Atomique

Inventors

• Morel Bertrand
• Pocachard Jacques

Classifications

• H01M10/4285

  Testing apparatus · CPC title

• H01M8/00

  Fuel cells; Manufacture thereof · CPC title

• H01M10/4228

  Leak testing of cells or batteries · CPC title

• H01M8/0297

  Arrangements for joining electrodes, reservoir layers, heat exchange units or bipolar separators to each other (H01M8/0271 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H01M6/5083 Primary

  Testing apparatus · CPC title